Spinning top



L. J. JIMENEZ. SPINNING T01.

No. 455,104. Patented June 30, 1891.

ATTORNEY.

n4: nonms PEYERS :11, wow-Luna, msmnqvmi, n4 n4 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LINO JOSEPH JIMENEZ, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

SPINNING TOP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 455,104, dated June 30, 1891.

Application filed March 30, 1891. Serial No. 386 ,892. (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LINo JOSEPH JIMENEZ, a citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore city, in the State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spinning Tops, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in spinning tops; and it has for its object to provide a top which may be used in three different ways, viz by winding the-cord on the conical part and throwing the top from the hand, by starting the top spinning by the hand without a cord and whipping it to keep it spinning, and by winding the cord about the body part of the top and giving the latter its full spinning impetus while it is held by the hand.

lVith this end in'view the invention consists in certain features of construction and combinations of parts, which willbe described hereinafter, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, lllustratlng the invention, Figure 1 shows a side elevation of the top; Fig. 2, a cross-section. Fig. 3 shows the cord wound around the body part of the top. Fig. 4 shows a modified form of the top having no stem. Fig. 5 shows the cord wound about the conical part, and Fig. 6 shows the manner of starting the top spinning by applying the finger and thumb to the stem.

The letter A designates the conical part of the top; a, the pivot-point at the small end of said conical part; B, the body part of the top; O,'an encircling groove in said body part just above the conical part at the central large portion of the top; D, a short stem rising from the said body part; b, a vertical socket in the said stem and extending down into the body part B c, a tube or sleeve tight in said socket, but not extending to the bottom of the same, and E a spindle-pin loosely engaging said sleeve and having on its lower end below the end of the sleeve an enlargement d to prevent its withdrawal, and at its upper end above the stem D a head '6, by means of which it is held in the thumb and fingers.

The manner of using the top is as follows:

It is spun by the conical part A in the old way, as illustrated in Fig. 5, the cord f being wound around and held between the fingers of the hand by a button 1 on the end of the cord. In whipping a topthe best results are obtained if the lash of the whip engages the upper part or body portion of. the top above the conical part. For this reason I provide the encircling groove 0 around the body part B. To start the top the stem D is taken in the thumb and fingers, as shown in Fig. 6, andtwirled. The whip is then applied and the lash of the same will engage in the en circling groove 0. The sides of this groove slope in from the body part B, whereby the lash will always take in the groove, although it may not strike squarely therein when applied. The full effect of each stroke of the whip is in this manner insured.

To spin the top by giving it its full spinning impetus while held by the hand, the cord fis wound around in the encircling groove 0, as shown in Figs. 3 and at, the head (2 of the spindle-pin E is held between the thumb and finger,.while the cord is drawn quickly from the top, and thereby causes the latter to revolve with great velocity around the spindle-pin E. The top is then dropped and spins on the pivot-point a. Thus I produce a toy which is at once a whip-top, a throw-top, and a spindle-top.

Having thus described my inventionflvhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. As a new article of manufacture, a spinv ning top comprising a conical part for the cord, having a pivot-point, and a body part above the said conical part, having an encircling groove at the central large part of the top.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a spinning top comprising a conical part for the cord, having a pivot-point, a body part above the said conical part, having an encircling groove at the central large part of the top, a stem rising from the said body part and having a socket which extends into the body part'of the top, and a spindle-pin loose in said socket. V

3. As a new article of manufacture, a spinthe end of the sleeve and a suitable handlening-top comprising aeonieal part for the cord, piece or head above the stem. IO having a pivot-point, a body partabove the In testimony whereof I affix mysignature in said conical part, having an encircling groove the presence of two Witnesses.

5 at the central large part of the top and pro- LINO JOSEPH JIMENEZ.

vided with a socket, a, tube or sleeve in said \Viunesses: socket, and a spind1e-pin loose in the said JNO. T. MADDOX,

sleeveflmving an enlargement on its end below JOHN F. KING. 

